Goals in the first half an hour from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s attack of Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial gave United much-needed breathing space on a nail-biting evening. City had the majority of the possession afterwards but it was stoic rearguard work from the Reds that kept the Blues at bay before a late Nicolas Otamendi header created a tense climax. But United held firm and made it back-to-back wins following the Old Trafford success against Spurs in midweek.
David De Gea probably wasn’t expecting such a watching brief during the opening half of the derby but it was his opposite number Ederson in City’s goal who had to earn the early money saving from Daniel James, Jesse Lingard and Martial.